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What is Commercial Photography

If you have been working on your photography skills for quite a while now, then you have probably been approached by friends and other family members for paid assignments at some point or so. This is an inevitable eventuality and something that you should well prepare for if you have any plans at all of pursuing your passion. In a sense of the word, any assignment that has a corresponding fee is basically a commercial shoot.

If you are coming to terms with the very first ever paid assignment in your career, there are a few things that you would need to think about and contemplate thoroughly before you even go ahead and commit to saying yes. What you need to understand is the fact that commercial photography is a completely different ball game compared just going out there and shooting photos for your own enjoyment.

After all, it is not your vision and your idea that you are shooting for, it is someone else’s. This is one of the biggest challenges that you would need to come to terms with first and foremost. You need to make sure that you understand the vision of your client. After all, they are paying you to make sure that it is something that comes to pass.

You will also need to talk to your client and understand the nature of the usage of the images.

What will the images be used for at some point? You should vary your pricing depending on the intended use for your images. As much as possible, read up on license rights and usage rights. If you can get some kind of training on these technicalities, then even better because the truth is that you will need every little bit of knowledge that you can ever get your hands on. Just like in portrait photography, the amount of expertise and knowledge that you have will also oftentimes dictate the amount of profits that you will be able to bring in to your business.

Learn the art of expert quoting.

You need to make sure that you are realistic when you are coming up with your price quote. Consider all of the other contributing variables when you are generating your quote. You have to take into account the time that you pour into the project, the effort, and perhaps even the expenses that you will be spending for out of pocket. If you think that you will need some kind of guidance at some point, you should seriously consult with a photographer who has been there and done that in the field. You need to look for someone who will mentor you and teach you the things that experience has failed to teach you because it is something that you lack.

Do not quote too outrageously because if this is something that you do not consider with prudence and with enough sensibility, then you might end up turning future clients off. You do not want to start turning clients off especially if you are just learning how to make your business grow and thrive.